Arfak montane specialties

Birding break

On this West Papuan birding break we basically follow
in the footsteps of the great Italian naturalists D’Albertis and Beccari,
who once collected in the Hattam-country only a few kilometers away from
our base in the Arfak Mountains on the mid-slopes of majestic Mount Indon,
towering 2,425 m above the Prafi Valley. Nearly a century and a half elapsed
since the intrepid D’Albertis was the first westerner to penetrate any
distance into the mountains of New Guinea exactly here in 1872, but birding
these magnificent woods, swathed in clouds during parts of most days,
remains an irresistible adventure. A privileged opportunity also, to be
taken in tow by the Hattam, across their ancestral lands, and marvel at
endemic birdlife that few outsiders have ventured to come and see before.

When?

Possible year-round, but most certainly best
from June to November.

Scheduled departures

Please enquire for details on our upcoming departures.

Physical effort

Reasonable physical fitness and good agility are required
to bird the relatively steep slopes here.

Recommended extensions

Anggi Giji basin

3 days/3 nights
The twin mountain lakes of Anggi Giji and Anggi Gita in the Sougb-country
of the southern Arfak Mountains were first visited by a western
naturalist in 1904, but it was a young Ernst Mayr who in 1928 discovered
the area’s paramount ornithological attraction: the beautiful
Grey-banded Munia, until today known only from here and nowhere
else on Earth!

Manokwari lowlands

0.5 or 1 day
This Manokwari birding walk takes us to a large tract of foothill
forest that supports a well-diversified and colorful lowland forest
avifauna including the restricted-range Red-billed Brushturkey,
Western Crowned Pigeon, and Painted Quail-thrush plus six species
of bird-of-paradise.